


The Return

by SelfProclaimedUnicorn



Series: A Court of Glass Oneshots [3]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Gen, all my writing is self indulgent but this is supreme self indulgence, idc if no one cares this one's for me, just some pre-series goodness from my fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 02:40:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16945416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelfProclaimedUnicorn/pseuds/SelfProclaimedUnicorn
Summary: Corisaius Brimsblood returns home from The Citadel after 6 years





	The Return

 

There was fanfare, of course, but it was bittersweet. Anyone would be happy to welcome back a family member after six years of absence, but a return from The Citadel was no regular absence, and a return in mourning was no regular return.

Corisaius had remained numb through the hugs and sympathy of his parents and his older siblings. The younger siblings barely remembered him, their affections had been only formalities, nearly as stiff as he was around those he wasn’t comfortable with. It wasn’t until he had been brought back to his old room that he broke down into tears once again.

Everything had remained as he left it as a thirteen-year-old boy. The last of toys he had never parted with lined one shelf, the now too short blankets still laid on the bed, books and bits of old collections were strewn about the table and remaining shelves. A coat of dust covered everything. In the six years since his departure to The Citadel for maester’s training no one had entered Corisaius’s room, even to clean. It made sense, he supposed, no one was going to use the room. But  _ surely  _ his younger siblings would have wanted to use something of his while he was gone, presumably forever. Maybe it was everyone’s knowledge of his...peculiarities that made them leave his old belongings untouched. Some spectre of his need to have things be just so.

He sighed and took one of the toy soldiers off the shelf, tears still falling. At nineteen, he had grown to a height where he now looked down on the shelves in his room. Everything seemed so much  _ smaller  _ now.

“Corisaius?”

He looked up, honey colored eyes falling on the familiar visage of his grandmother, Ella. She stood in the entryway, wrinkled hand resting on the door frame. Her face was soft, softer than that of the rest of his family when they welcomed him home. A small smile pulled up the corners of his full lips, the tears began falling more freely as he simply nodded to signal Ella that she could enter. She made it across the room in a few strides before gently placing her hands on Corisaius’s shoulders and kissing his forehead.

“Welcome back, dear one. I only wish I had seen you again under happier circumstances.”

Without responding he wrapped his arms around the old woman’s large frame and buried his face in her neck. The tears flowed freely now, dripping from his eyes and nose onto his grandmother’s dress. They both remained silent for a long time as he cried, Ella rubbing his back in small circles as he released his emotions that had been held in since leaving Oldtown.

Finally, as the tears finally slowed, Ella spoke again, “I am so, so sorry about Maester Elden. Losing someone you loved so dearly...it was truly a loss for the whole realm.”

Corisaius sniffled loudly as he squeezed his grandmother tighter for just a moment. “Please, don’t leave me too.”

“Everyone must die eventually,” she kissed his cheek before continuing, “but for you, dear heart, I will stay away from The Stranger as long as I can. I will stay with you, I promise.”

  
  



End file.
